“Why do we do it, eh? Write, I mean…”
It’s a way of life for so many of us. We have to write, even if no-one else sees our scribbling. Sometimes we get published – sometimes our writing stays hidden. We write in snatched moments between life’s challenges – often turning those very challenges into the next short story or novel.
I find other writers always fascinating to talk with; we know a little bit or a lot about so many subjects and have researched a lot of different topics. Although some of us are more hermits than others; some more prolific than others and some more disciplined than others. There’s a basic shared language with other scribes. But we each have our own reason for doing what we do: writing.
For me, it’s my way of having a voice. Not everyone wants to sit and listen to me pontificating. But when I write, my readers can choose – or not – to read what I have written whenever they want.
I have written since I was little, starting with children’s short adventure stories. Flights of fancy that took me into magical worlds – long before Harry Potter came along.
As I grew older, I became fascinated with the old Hollywood movies and my writing morphed into something else.
My first published books were non-fiction: Los Angeles Then and Now and Hollywood Then and Now, about the history of Los Angeles and Hollywood. I loved the research involved and found so many more ideas to write about. One of these ideas became the Lottie Topaz series. I now write mystery stories. My paternal grandfather was a detective with the Bristol police, so it must be in the genes.
I realized I loved sharing the knowledge I uncovered about Hollywood in those very early days. I want people to know what it was really like back then. I want to share what I know: To show what the old movie sets were like during silent movies – the open top stages standing cheek-by-jowl with each other. Because there was no sound recorded in those days, there was a cacophony of music, actors talking, the director calling out directions, laughter, screams – all at the same time from different corners of the movie lot. I write about the little details of Lottie’s make-up case, showing what make-up was used in 1925; a lot of this was gleaned from my mum who devoured Hollywood magazines as a young girl and subsequently instilled in me a fascination for that era.
In these books, I write about how Hollywood used to be. I like to bring to life what it was like back then. Through my writing, I also hope to take readers on the same journey that fascinated me so – and take them away from today’s troubles and challenges. I love disappearing into that other world. I hope readers will feel the same.
I write about my travels – sharing those experiences on the page. I have had a lot of adventures in my travels, mostly throughout Europe on film locations when I worked first as an actress and then later as a journalist, and I love to share those times – especially on the written page.
Once I moved to Hollywood and then travelled across the States on movie locations and later exploring with my American husband, I experienced more places to write about. I had created a whole new life for myself and became a proud American Citizen… with more writing topics.
After my husband, Rick, died suddenly, I didn’t know how to talk about it. I cried a lot – but I found solace in writing. First, I wrote to my husband and best friend, in a journal, frequently in those early days. I still write to him, sharing the thoughts about each day. It helps.
Ironically, I found a Blog called Planet Grief. It was written by English children’s author Helen Bailey, after her husband tragically drowned in Barbados in 2011. “A wife at breakfast. A widow by lunch,” she later wrote. Grief stricken, Helen was unable to get back to her children’s books, so she began writing the blog. She called it Planet Grief, because she felt that without her beloved husband John, she was living on another planet. Others who had lost loved ones responded to her blog that was filled with tears and laughter and tales of their pet dachshund. She even met some of her followers in a local Coffee Shop, to commiserate.
Some years after, she met a new beau and they moved in together. In April 2016, I read a headline in the English papers: “Children’s writer and her dog missing.” Some months later the two bodies were found in a cesspit at her new home. Helen and her dog had been drugged – by the new beau. He was found guilty and sent to prison earlier this year. His first young wife had died suddenly in their garden ten years before he met Helen Bailey. Police are now re-examining that death.
So the writer in me was fascinated with this whole saga. My mind is still spinning storylines from the awful details. And I am sure many other writers also found a morbid interest in this tale. That’s the way my writer’s mind works. I can’t help it. Just as I can’t help writing – about everything.
I wonder about my fellow writer friends. Why do you do it, eh? Write, I mean.
The Writers in Residence 
You sound a bit like me, Rosemary. I love sharing the knowledge I uncover, though maybe not about Hollywood. I think writers all learn new (or old) things and want to share them, in a newspaper article, a memoir, non-fiction, or a mystery. Love to see your fiction cross with your Old Hollywood interests. And thanks for sharing that gruesome story at the end. I can see writers, tapping their lips with a pencil and pondering it right now!
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Thanks, Jackie. Aren’t we lucky, discovering so many fascinating things about so many different topics in our writer’s world? And of course we always want to share – through our assorted writings…
And you cover things in so many different formats, I’m always impressed!
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Rosemary, what a marvelous piece. Beautifully expressed. You are more than a writer, you are a historian, a philosopher, a therapist, a loving person, and so much more. You are brilliant at expressing what some of us find difficult to say. Thank you for sharing, and good luck with Lottie, I hope she finds a home.
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Why, thank you Jill, for those lovely words. I do find it easier to channel my thoughts through my keyboard. And Lottie and I are persevering! I just need more hours in the day…
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Rosemary, You definitely show how a writer’s mind works. Stories are everywhere, sometimes from one’s personal life; sometimes from life around them. But it’s the sharing of those moments that brings the writer and the reader together. Great post.
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Gayle – you’re right about the sharing. That’s the most important part of what we do, I think.
Thanks
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Under the influence of Nancy Drew and the Dana Girls, I wrote my first mysteries in 6th grades. I got great “reviews” from my friends. But I put my efforts aside for decades until a couple of my co-workers took creative writing classes at UCLA Extension. I read their work, thought it impressive, but also thought “I could do this.” Long story short, I AM doing this! Ideas come from everywhere, with advice columns being a favorite source. These columns are full of conflict, and conflict can lead to … murder!
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Nancy Drew was such a great inspiration for many young girls, Maggie. I am so glad you took up your writing again later. And I agree, advice columns are a great source of ideas. Thank you for sharing!
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Rosemary, what you say is so true and so brilliantly stated. Many of us do feel compelled to write, and what we write changes with time, mood and inspiration. That’s part of the thrill – we never know where the next story idea will come from, or whether it will take root.
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Miko, aren’t we lucky to have so many platforms with which to express ourselves? And I feel especially lucky that we have this blog to share.
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What a wonderful post, Rosemary. Writers don’t always think about why we write. We just do it. Me? Writing is a major part of who I am and has been since I was a child.
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You’re right, Linda. We write because we have to. We are driven. And for so many of us, it seemed to start when we were little. Aren’t we lucky to do doing this now we’re grown-up? (Well, I’m still working on being grown-up…)
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Excellent post, Rosemary. Made me think–not sure why I write…
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Oh Madeline – I think you have the same disease we all have! You can’t help yourself but write; you’re always working on some new story idea – usually around your very own Route 66. Love them!
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You are making interesting observations, Rosemary. Us writers are driven to put stories on the page and most start at an early age. As for me, I found this thing called writing late in life but cannot stop now.
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Alice – sorry to say that, even later in life, it sounds like you have caught our bug! But so glad you did. It’s tough to stop once you get hooked, isn’t it?
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Another excellent piece little sister. You have to face up to it. You are an addict, you are addicted to writing! The creative urge is in your DNA, and fortunately there is no cure. I am suffering from the same thing with my painting. I pick up my paintbrush, get engrossed, then realise four hours has passed , before I become aware of the everyday world around me. But what a trip! Stay hooked, keep writing.
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Thanks, big brother! But isn’t it wonderful we have such an outlet. Your paintings transport us all to another world. I think I caught my addiction from Mum, who was always tapping away on her Olivetti typewriter or scribbling notes in a book….
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